Molded horse boot

ABSTRACT

A horse boot of molded composition having a sole and walls which substantially conform to the shape of a horse&#39;&#39;s foot and having reentrant folds in the walls substantially where the side walls meet the front wall to enable the boot to be enlarged at the top to permit slipping the same on a horse&#39;&#39;s foot, tensioning means for snugging the walls of the boot around the horse&#39;&#39;s foot and a substantially horizontally disposed strap disposed adjacent the interior side and rear walls of the boot and adjustably attached to the tensioning means at locations on the side walls which are proximate the reentrant folds.

United States Patent 1 1 3,732,929 Glass 11 May 15, 1973 [54] MOLDEDHORSE BOOT 840,892 1/1907 Adam ..l68/l 122,972 1 1872 S] t ..168 1 [75]Inventor: Neel W. Glass, Los Alamos, N. Mex. M I 8 [73] AssigneesLes-Kare, Inc., Los Alamos, N. Primary Examine" 'Hugh Chamblefi Mex.Attorney-Henry Heyman [22] Filed: Dec. 29, 1971 [57] ABSTRACT [21] Appl'213,392 A horse boot of molded composition having a sole and walls whichsubstantially conform to the shape of a Related Apphcanon Data horsesfoot and having reentrant folds in the walls [63] Continuation-impart ofSer. No. 93,119, Nov. 27, substantially where the side walls meet thefront wall 1970, to enable the boot to be enlarged at the top to permitslipping the same on a horses foot, tensioning means [52] US. Cl..l68/18, 54/82 for snugging the walls of the boot around the horses[51] Int.Cl ..A01l03/00,B68c 05/00 foot and a substantially horizontallydisposed strap [58] Field of Search ..168/18, 1, 2, 3; disposed adjacentthe interior side and rear walls of 54/82 the boot and adjustablyattached to the tensioning means at locations on the side walls whichare proxi- [5 6] References Cited mate the reentrant folds.

UNITED STATES PATENTS 9/1912 Winston ..168/1 X 5 Claims, 3 DrawingFigures PATENTEB m1 5 ms INVENTOR Neel W G/ass 1 MOLDED HORSE BOOT Thisapplication is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 93,119filed Nov. 27, 1970 by Neel W. Glass, now US. Pat. No. 3,703,209.

The referenced parent application discloses a molded horse boot ofplastic composition such as a urethane. The boot comprises a ruggedrelatively stiff sole portion and integral uprising walls of shapeconforming to a horses foot.

The side walls near the front wall are provided with integral reentrantfolds to permit the boot to be spread open to slip over the broader soleportion of the foot. A tensioning device bracket is fastened to the sidewalls slightly behind each reentrant fold and the associated tensioningdevice is tightened by an over-center toggle device or buckle situate onthe front wall of the boot. Plastic boots so made are securely fastenedto the horses foot by diffuse pressure around the hoof and cartilage atthe rear of the foot but are limited in adjustability because of thestiffness of the plastic material and therefore must be made in manysizes to be compatible with the variations in sizes of horses feet. Inaddition, the forces which tend to loosen or remove the boots underdifferent conditions of horses gait are complex and not fullyunderstood.

The present invention is directed to a modification of the plastic horseboot, which modification resides in the provision of a strong internalstrap which goes around the rear portion of the boot in the interiorthereof and which is secured by detachable fasteners to the boot sidewalls and the tensioning device brackets in a manner which allows forselection of the correct strap length and in effect the correct lengthof the loop comprising tensioning device and strap. In this manner theboot can be slipped on a horses foot and empirically adjusted for aproper, secure, and comfortable fit. Additionally, the strap is providedwith ridges preferably in the shape of downwardly directed serrations toprovide improved adherence to the foot.

Accordingly, it is a primary objection of the present invention toprovide a composition horse boot of improved size adjustability tothereby reduce the number of 1 stock sizes needed to fit the naturallyoccurring range of sizes of horse feet.

It is another objective of the present invention to provide a moldedcomposition horse boot which can be reliably secured on a horse s footby means which applies constraint to only the front hoof and rearcartilage portions of the horses foot and which means provideconstriction tension continuity with forward adjustable tensioningmeans.

It is another objective of the present invention to provide in themechanism for attaching a horse boot on a horse s foot an adjustable inlength internal strap having on its surface facing theinterior thereof aconfiguration which constantly maintains secure attachment of the booton a horse s foot.

The above objectives, together with other objects and advantages whichwill subsequently become apparent, reside in the details of theconstruction, arrange ment and combination of the several parts andfeatures as are more fully hereinafter described and claimed, referencebeing made to the accompanying drawings made a part hereof wherein likenumerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

FIG. 1 is a downwardly inclined perspective view of the horse boot ofthe present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side elevation of the cross section on vertical plane 2-2 ofFIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is an exterior view in elevation of of the horse boot of FIG. 1.

Referring to the figures of the drawing, the horse boot comprises a soleportion 9 provided with treads 10, an integral front wall 11, integralside walls 13 and an integral rear wall 15. The horse boot is molded ofa thermosetting or thermoplastic strong plastic such as urethane. Theplastic, while somewhat pliable, is strong in tension and resistselongation. To the end that the boot can be slipped over the hoof, it isprovided with reentrant folds 14 which allows the area enclosed by thewalls to be enlarged while the boot is being put on.

the right side The peripheral area of the boot is constricted by a ten-1 sioning mechanism comprising side plates 16, cable 19, and over-centertoggle 27. A plurality of pins with enlarged heads 23 are rigidlyaffixed to the side plates to allow for length selectivity in anchoringcable 19.

Screws 24 attach the rearward part of the side plates to the boot walland additionally penetrate the boot 'wall to cooperatively engagethreaded eyes 25 in strap Because of the limited flexibility of the bootmaterial, the constriction means is effective over a limited lengthadjusting range. It is necessary that firm engagement be obtained aroundthe horse s foot, particularly between the cartilage heel of the footand the front hoof portion.

To the end that secure engagement will be obtainable over a range ofhorse foot sizes, the internal strap 26 is provided. The strap liesparallel to the side and rear wall of the boot. It is afi'lxed to theside wall of the boot by threaded ferrules or eyelets 25..

Ferrules 25 are of a well known type having an internally threadedcylindrical part integral with a planar washer part. The cylindricalpart is inserted in eyes provided in sets in one or both ends of thestrap 26. Screws 24 which affix the side plates to the bootcooperatively engage the ferrules 25. If upon placing the boot on thehorses foot the fit can be improved by a different adjustment of thestrap length, the boot is removed, the screws 23 withdrawn from ferrules25, the ferrules positioned in a different set of holes in the strap andthe screws are replaced. M

It is an important feature of this invention that the tensile forceswhen the boot is being worn are continuous around the boot.

As seen in FIGS. 1 and 3, an over-center toggle buckle 27 is pivotallysupported on hinge bracket 29. The toggle is provided with a pluralityof transverse slots 31 for the purpose of receiving and tensioning cable19. When toggle buckle 27 is in the released position, that is, pointedupward or somewhat backward,

the distance from the slots to the bracket pins 23 is considerably lessthan when the toggle buckle is in the down or locked position, Theinternal strap 26 is also fastened to brackets 16 with the result thattensioning of cable 19 imparts a constriction which is continuous aroundstrap 26, brackets 16 and cable 19. The pressure of the upper of thefront part of the boot against the upper front surfaceof the hoof is themain anchoring effect of the constriction mechanism. The strap 26provides the means for maintaining the hoof forward particularly whenthe hose thrusts the foot backward in the forward phase of propulsionsequence. The rearward thrust may be a considerable force and unless theboot can solidly resist sliding between the boot and the foot, theanchoring effect between the front surface of the hoof and the frontwall of the boot would be adversely affected and on relaxation of thethrust the rear binding relationship between boot and foot would beadversely affected. It has been found that a properly fitted boot willshift within limits which are so small that the shifting will not afiectloss of the boot even under strenuous conditions. The anchoring isenhanced if the interior surface of the strap is provided withhorizontally extending downwardly serrated ridges 30. Any downwardmovement of the strap on the cartilage of the foot under the conditionsabove-mentioned is removed when the horse takes the next step. Theresult is that the boots are reliably retained in place under allconditions of use.

What I claim is:

l. A composition molded boot for horses comprising a sole and integralwalls conforming in shape to a horse s foot, a reentrant fold on eachside of the front hoof wall and having the fold creases lying in theplane substantially that of the front of the hoof, a pair of bracketssymmetrically located and affixed to the boot side wall upper portionsrearward of and proximate the reentrant folds, a binding cable meansengaging the side brackets and passing over the front of the boot,buckle means engaging said cable for allowing the reentrant folds to bespread apart when in released posiwhen in engaged position, wherein theimprovement comprises anelongated strap supported proximate theinterior-surface of the rear wall and rearward portions of the sidewalls of the boot to cooperate with the binding cable, bracket means andbuckle means in effecting a substantially continuous constricting looparound the front and sides of the hoses foot and the cartilageextensions of the horse s foot at the rear thereof.

2. The horse boot improvement of claim 1 in which the side brackets areaffixed to the boot side walls with boot wall penetrating removablefasteners, at least one end of the strap having a plurality of spacedapertures, and means for engaging the removable fasteners also engagingselected ones of the spaced apertures in the strap to secure thebracket, boot side wall and strap together to effect desired engagementbetween the boot and the horses foot when the buckle means is in engagedposition.

3. The horse boot improvement of claim 2 in which the surface of thestrap facing the interior of the boot is provided with horizontallyextending ridges.

4. The horse boot improvement of claim 3 in which the ridges aredownwardly directed serrations.

5. The horse boot improvement of claim 4 in which the buckle means is anover-center toggle.

1. A composition molded boot for horses comprising a sole and integralwalls conforming in shape to a horse''s foot, a reentrant fold on eachside of the front hoof wall and having the fold creases lying in theplane substantially that of the front of the hoof, a pair of bracketssymmetrically located and affixed to the boot side wall upper portionsrearward of and proximate the reentrant folds, a binding cable meansengaging the side brackets and passing over the front of the boot,buckle means engaging said cable for allowing the reentrant folds to bespread apart when in released position and to compress and contract thereentrant folded when in engaged position, wherein the improvementcomprises an elongated strap supported proximate the interior surface ofthe rear wall and rearward portions of the side walls of the boot tocooperate with the binding cable, bracket means and buckle means ineffecting a substantially continuous constricting loop around the frontand sides of the hose''s foot and the cartilage extensions of thehorse''s foot at the rear thereof.
 2. The horse boot improvement ofclaim 1 in which the side brackets are affixed to the boot side wallswith boot wall penetrating removable fasteners, at least one end of thestrap having a plurality of spaced apertures, and means for engaging theremovable fasteners also engaging selected ones of the spaced aperturesin the strap to secure the bracket, boot side wall and strap together toeffect desired engagement between the boot and the horse''s foot whenthe buckle means is in engaged position.
 3. The horse boot improvementof claim 2 in which the surface of the strap facing the interior of theboot is provided with horizontally extending ridges.
 4. The horse bootimprovement of claim 3 in which the ridges are downwardly directedserrations.
 5. The horse boot improvement of claim 4 in which the bucklemeans is an over-center toggle.